Darkness Comes Full Circle
by InfiniteIceRelease
Summary: What will you do when you find yourself unable to stave it off any longer? Will they rescue you?


Title: Darkness Comes Full Circle  
Summary: What will you do when you find yourself unable to stave it off any longer? Will they rescue you?  
Pairing: Cloud/Leon

You are suffocating… your whole chest feeling as if on fire and eyes burning. Needing to calm down; you can't let it dominate you.

_Darkness_

This horrific feeling of being powerless while something inside of you tries to claw its way out. Something dangerous that you know will try to hurt everyone around you. But you can't do anything about it. You're trapped. Trapped in your own…

_Darkness_

Gasping loudly when air begins rushing back into your lungs; the burning feeling only seeming to double from the effort of it all. Was that breath really yours? Watery blue eyes widen in shock when met with stormy grey. The fear and worry evident in eyes that should have been indifferent… even emotionless.  
Where did he come from?

_Darkness_

Feeling yourself being pulled up, you can only watch silently as your lungs slowly cease burning. The air now circulating better; you open your mouth to speak but nothing comes out. Though he seems to understand.  
Blond hair shakes softly as you try to convey with actions that you are well, you will be fine. But your bravado cracks and you feel yourself drifting once more into…

_Darkness_

A sharp crack and your face is stinging. He brought you back; at the cost of a hand-print on your face. Were you really that weak to begin slipping once more? You mumble a short apology but he waves it off with an irritable swing of his hand.  
'It's fine.' He says quietly, still staring at you.  
Suddenly, you feel ill. Rolling over, your chest constricts and you dry heave onto the dusty pavement of what you now realize is Hollow Bastion's streets. His grey eyes once again clouded over with worry.  
Won't it ever go away?

_Darkness_

There is no anger, no sarcastic remark, nor is there an angry glare. You merely watch each other in silence before he wordlessly lifts you from the ground and brings you to the familiar building in the center of town.  
No one is there, and you release the breath that you hadn't realized you were holding. He quirks an eyebrow at you, but makes no comment towards your strange behavior. It was obvious why you were acting so strange.

_Darkness_

He walks away from you and you relax against the bed, closing your eyes briefly before snapping them open again. The shadows behind your eyelids too reminiscent of the darkness seeping into your heart.  
How long had it been? How long had you been lying there on that broken pavement after returning from the defeat of Sephiroth? 'Too long.' Your mind supplies, before the black-clad man returns with a glass of water.  
"Are you feeling better, Cloud?"

_In Darkness_

Repressing a shaky laugh, Cloud nodded silently. He felt fine, even though his entire body and soul had almost been devoured by the horrendous darkness that poured from Sephiroth's defeated form.  
The man had had one last surprise, and it had almost gotten him. He cursed himself for his weakness as he watched the man named Leon study him with those cloudy eyes.  
It just didn't feel right. Why did he land here? He was only trying to get away. 'It's where you belong.' Another short answer from his consciousness, but he ignored it. It seemed as though he was talking to himself a lot lately.

_In Darkness we lay_

"You can't let it get to you."  
Cloud started as the brunette's words broke the silence. What had warranted him to get more than a few simple words out of the normally stoic gunblader? It didn't matter. He just didn't want to drift away again.  
Next to him, he could feel Leon press the cool glass into his hand and he sighed gratefully. It was a pleasant feeling against the burning he had felt earlier. Had he been choking?  
"Everyone left…" He turned his head to see Leon shaking his. "Apparently things are getting slightly out of control."  
"Hm?"  
His eyes clouded over all of a sudden and the room began to spin. He managed to see dark eyes widen for a moment before another sharp crack resounded through the room. He rubbed his cheek lightly.  
"Must you keep doing that?"  
"You're slipping away." He shrugged, as if that justified his actions.

_In Darkness we hide_

Cloud sighed. He was slipping, and it was only going to get worse. Sephiroth was gone, but the darkness within him remained. He didn't know how much longer he could fight it; his last reserves of strength leaving when the general died. 'Was it that long ago…?' He wondered.  
Leon took the still-full glass from his hands and the blond swordsman watched him set it on a nearby table.  
"How long..?" he managed, before a rough cough ripped through him.  
His vision trickled away slightly, but he fought to bring it back into focus. He didn't want to get hit again. Leon looked as if he didn't understand him for a moment before he shook his head.  
"I don't know. You've been out of it for a few days, at least. I'm not sure when you came here."  
He nodded, and suddenly he felt very tired.

_In Darkness we run_

To his slight horror, he felt himself fall into the other man's shoulder, but Leon only continued to stare straight ahead. His eyes had a far away look and he wondered why the other man was acting not like himself. At least he had an excuse…  
"Hey."  
"Hm?"  
Leon turned to look at the blond, just now noticing their proximity. He raised an eyebrow, but when Cloud only shrugged, he let it go. Now wasn't the time to start an argument.  
They passed the time in companionable silence, neither really having anything to say. Well, perhaps that was a bad thing to say. Neither man really knew how to start a conversation.  
There were many important things that needed to be said or asked, but neither Cloud nor Leon really understood how to simply speak such things. They spoke with their weapons… that was all they knew.

_Darkness is everywhere_

"You need to rest."  
Leon was the first to speak; being oddly quiet in the already still room. The blond mess of hair nodded once before he let his body fall back onto the bed with a soft thump.  
The gunman snorted softly. Graceful as ever, Strife.

_Darkness is nowhere_

"Why did you save me?" The question now asked; drifted heavily in the air. For a moment, the stoic gunman considered ignoring it. It was something he had hoped he would not have to answer and that maybe the blond man next to him would never ask it.  
But he had, and now he would have to answer it… lest they get into a fight, which might or might not happen. He turned to the other man and inwardly sighed. Why did things always have to turn out this way?  
"Because I wanted to." He stated simply.

_Darkness lies in all hearts_

Bright blue eyes widened at the meaning hidden in the man's words, and he found that he couldn't breathe again. His vision blurred drastically, but before that harsh slap came, he managed to right himself.  
He… wanted to? Why? Why would he want to save someone like him? It was confusing, but looking at the brunette now, he noticed the soft look in his eyes. And all of it came together.  
"Do you love me?"  
Leon sucked in a quiet breath.  
"Yes."

_It swirls, brings you in, and crushes you… the Darkness that lies so sweetly in your breast_

As the silence thickened, the gunman rose to leave the room. He suddenly felt out of place, and that maybe he needed to go for a walk. But as quickly as he rose, a calloused hand gripped his lower arm and a soft voice drifted over his ears.  
"Don't leave… Squall."  
That name… he turned to look at the pale man who held a surprisingly strong grip on his arm. The blond swordsman whom he had fallen for a long time ago… the one person he tried to deny loving.  
The look in his eyes was so desperate he forgot his awkwardness easily and sat down again next to him. His breath hitched when the smaller man moved almost imperceptively closer to him, never letting go of his arm.  
"Leon…" He murmured in a lazy drawl, sleep already overcoming his exhausted body.  
"Hm?" He looked down to see those bright blue eyes drifting closed, and he let a soft smile tug at his lips. Until he spoke.  
"I… love you too."

_What you never fully realize about the Darkness is_

He smiled, leaning down to brush his lips over Clouds. When the other whimpered softly at his touch, he chuckled and leaned down to place a more forceful kiss on the soft skin.  
Maybe the spell of darkness was finally gone. Maybe, just maybe… they wouldn't have to suffer anymore. They had a reason for living after all.

_Darkness comes in Full Circle._


End file.
